Despite Lavaggi being a nobleman by background, he could not count on personal financial resources; therefore he started racing only at the age of 26.

In this category, he soon became a driver for the Porsche Kremer Team, for whom he became the 1993 Interserie champion, winning six of the season's total of 12 races and taking four further podium finishes.

He scored two more wins in the FIA Sportscar Championship, including the 1000 km of Monza, where he drove five of the race's six hours and took five more podium places and two pole positions.

He was a rookie, but, at the same time, being 35 years old, he was the oldest driver in the field; therefore, he had to fight against the scepticism of the F1 media.

He raced the car in the Le Mans Series until 2009 and he scored a pole position at 2008 Vallelunga 6h.

[citation needed] He was nicknamed "Johnny Carwash" (an approximate translation of his name from Italian to English, John Washes) by people in the paddock;[4] US talk show host David Letterman helped bring the nickname to popular attention.